Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

OPINION

If you're wrongfully convicted, Maryland wants to help

The Daily Times Editorial Board
Published 7:00 a.m. ET April 20, 2018

CLOSE

Kirk Bloodsworth was the first American death row inmate to be exonerated by DNA ecidence. He's sharing his story in a documentary titled "Bloodsworth: An Innocent Man." A screening will be held at Seattle University on November 10 at 6pm in Piggot Hall.
KING

DNA evidence helped Kirk Bloodsworth, a former Marine and waterman from Dorchester County, become the first person in the United States to have been exonerated of all charges after being sentenced to death.(Photo: IMAGE courtesy of Witness to Innocence.)

Does allowing convicted, incarcerated inmates to appeal their sentences as they maintain their innocence translate to being "soft" on crime?

The Maryland legislature — by passing an amended bill during the 2018 session — made a clear and nearly unanimous statement that no, this is not being soft on crime. The Maryland House of Delegates passed an amended version of Senate Bill 423 during the final moments of the 2018 legislative session 134-1; moments later, the Senate passed it unanimously.

The nearly unanimous passage doesn't reflect the controversy that preceded the final vote, however. And in this case, it was a healthy debate.

Gov. Larry Hogan gets the final word, which had not come as of Friday. The governor has 30 days from its April 9 day of passage to sign the bill into law.

This bill is about justice for wrongfully convicted individuals. It is not about allowing dangerous inmates who were convicted of crimes they actually committed to be released back into society prematurely.

The most famous case in Maryland is that of Kirk Bloodsworth, who was wrongfully convicted in a capital murder case. He spent years on death row before DNA evidence, which had not been available at the time of his conviction, exonerated him.

There are a couple of points worth considering.

First and foremost, it can be difficult to comprehend that someone who is incarcerated may actually have committed no wrongdoing at all; he or she may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time or could closely resemble a suspect who did commit a crime. But it happens.

No individual should serve time for a crime he or she did not commit. There may be no greater injustice than to lose a chunk of your life because you were wrongly convicted.

And perhaps more horrifying, for every person serving time for a crime he or she did not commit, there is another person who actually did commit the crime, but is free to commit more crimes or enjoy life without paying the price.

Opponents of the original bill feared it would open the floodgates to a lot of trivial, time-wasting petitions and appeals, which would disrupt the the criminal justice system.

Amendments were added to address those concerns, but justice requires opportunities for rightful appeals in cases where an innocent individual is incarcerated.

The stance taken by Russell Butler, executive director of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center, that "finality of convictions is a bedrock principle of the judicial system," is too rigid.

Eastern Shore writer Tim Junkin's book, "Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA," has been chosen as the One Maryland One Book 2018 selection.(Photo: Submitted image courtesy of Maryland Humanities)

People can make mistakes, and even entire juries can rule in error.

Justice is not served when an innocent person is executed or sentenced to life in prison for a crime they did not commit.

It's not served because the system has stolen an innocent life.

In such cases, justice is not served in a different sense because the actual perpetrator does not pay the price and, more importantly, because this enables the real culprit to continue committing crimes against other people.

No one should pay the price for someone else's crime, and no one should escape consequences because an innocent person is doing the time instead.

Gov. Hogan should sign this bill, which was passed nearly unanimously by the legislature after a robust debate and reconciliation of differences.